


Instinctive Love

by ZeroUnitRGB



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Circus, Coming Out, Fluff, Holding Hands, Kissing, Love, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-28 09:43:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20061976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZeroUnitRGB/pseuds/ZeroUnitRGB
Summary: After the final battle with Homunculus, everyone plans on returning to normal. The problem is, Darius and Heinkel don't know what that is. Before meeting the Elric brothers, they were always alone without a friend nor family to call their own. All they know is that their animal instincts are telling them to stick together, and something good will happen. But what good things will happen?





	Instinctive Love

By the time Heinkel, Marcoh, and Yoki made it to Central’s Command Center, the fight was already over. Alphonse Elric had gotten his body back and everyone was celebrating their victory over the Homunculi and the creature they called Father. At least, that’s what they heard from the Briggs soldiers at the front entrance.

The group wanted to join in the festivities too but a Central soldier recognized Yoki as a wanted fugitive so the three of them had to go into hiding again. Marcoh took them to a friend’s place, a doctor willing to keep them hidden, no questions asked. Once the coast was clear and Central fully surrendered to the North, Heinkel left on his own to check on the battlefield. He was worried about Darius and the others, especially hearing soldiers mourn for those that were killed in the chaos. 

“This is a closed off area!” 

Usually, Heinkel would’ve listened to a man holding a rifle over his shoulder but he spotted Darius in the courtyard. “Sorry, but I have to get in there.” He grabbed the man by the arms and easily flung him aside before rushing in. “Darius!”

The gorilla chimera glanced over his shoulder. “Hm? Heinkel?”

Ed looked up from where he was watching his brother eat for the first time in years. “Oh, it’s Lion King.”

“It’s Heinkel, shrimp!”

“Don’t call me shrimp, you old geezer!”

Heinkel came to a sudden stop when he saw the golden-haired boy that was nothing more than skin and bones sitting in the middle of the crowd. He didn’t look like anyone Heinkel knew but when he smiled, it was clear who it was. “So you finally got your original body back,” Heinkel sighed. “I’m glad you’re okay, kid.”

“I’m glad you’re okay too, Mr. Heinkel,” Al replied. 

It wasn’t long before General Armstrong took charge in the absence of a leader. She ordered soldiers to help with the relief efforts and to clean up the mess they had made. In the meantime, everyone else was trying to figure out what to do next. The injured had to be taken to the hospital and Al needed food. The guys from Xing decided to go home as soon as possible to bury Fu. Scar apparently disappeared after he beat King Bradley.

Heinkel wasn’t sure what his plan was. He just knew he was going to be sticking with Darius wherever he went.

Speaking of Darius, the ape started fretting like a doting mother over Heinkel’s wounds. Last time they’d seen each other, Heinkel was in pretty bad shape from his fight with Pride and the blood on his clothes must not have been a good look. But thanks to the Philosopher’s Stone and Dr. Marcoh, he was doing a lot better. Hearing that seemed to relieve Heinkel’s partner.

Afterwards, they volunteered to help clear away the rubble. They figured they should make themselves useful. Civilians had no idea what had actually taken place that day and were scared out of their minds because the nation was without a Fuhrer. If Heinkel and Darius didn’t do their part then neither of them could say they actually saved Amestris. Especially not when it was the kids that dealt the final blow.

“What about you?” Heinkel asked.

“Huh?” Darius looked up. “What _ about _me?”

“I’ve been hearing crazy stories all over.” The lion chimera added a sack of debris to the pile of materials that Major Armstrong was going to use to rebuild the ground to cover up Homunculus’s hideout. “There was an army of undead puppet soldiers, mindless swordsmen groomed to be King Bradley, and then the actual Fuhrer showed up and single-handedly destroyed a tank! So are you okay, Darius? You’re not hurt are you?”

“Nothing more than a few scratches,” Darius chuckled. 

“Hm? Hey.”

“Yeah?”

“You have a bite mark on your neck.”

Darius slapped a hand over the back of his neck, pressing his fingers into the faint indentations that one of the puppet soldiers left in him. His face took on a shade of pink as he stammered out an explanation. “I swear it’s not what it looks like!” he blurted out. “One of those unkillable things tried to eat me but I was too beefy for its teeth to sink into me!”

“You don’t have to act like you’ve been caught having an affair,” Heinkel muttered. He cocked his head to the side and put his fist to his chin. “Hm, but doesn’t this mean you’re going to turn into one of those things too?” His teeth grew sharp as he wiggled his arms around. “You know like in those movies where zombies bite a member of the protagonist’s crew and they—.”

“Stop that! You’re scaring me!”

Heinkel threw his head back laughing. “I’m just playing with you.”

“Well, it wasn’t funny! We almost died today, you know.”

“Yeah… that’s probably why I could use a laugh.” 

Darius could feel the atmosphere shift and he looked down feeling guilty even if it was a distasteful joke. Still, he understood the feeling of wanting to laugh. They won! The Homunculus and all his children were defeated! So why didn’t it feel like a victory to him? Perhaps it was all the destruction that had been left behind. Or maybe it was because the only people Darius would even consider calling family were finally going to go back to their respective homes.

The last few months had been exhausting. They were constantly looking over their shoulders for enemy soldiers, immortal monsters, and Kimblee. But they were traveling with a bratty kid that for some reason treated them more like human beings than the military ever did. It felt nice to be seen as human after a whole life of being alone.

“Hey, let’s take a break,” said Heinkel, dusting his palms off on his pants. “I just realized I haven’t eaten since this morning and I’m starving.” He then tugged at his shirt. “I should also probably take a shower. I reek of copper and sweat.”

Darius grinned at that. “Yeah, it’s pretty bad.”

The Elric brothers were going to go back home to Resembool once Al was able to walk on his own. They wanted to surprise Winry and eat her apple pie as soon as they could. The military had lots to do to keep the country from falling apart. Colonel Mustang and General Armstrong needed to recover though so it looked like General Grumman was going to sit in the Fuhrer’s seat. Then there was a whole sendoff party that was going to be held for the people that lost their lives that day. It was going to get busier in Central.

The two chimera got some new military uniforms in the Command Center while no one was looking and went into town to get some grub. Of course, most of the restaurants nearby had to close up shop due to the fighting. It took some walking but they found a diner that was open for civilians that have lost their homes and military officers that were on duty. They felt a little guilty about taking advantage of the management but then again, it wasn’t like they officially resigned when they abandoned Kimblee.

“Hey, I wanted to ask,” said Heinkel, in between bites of his steak, “what do you plan to do now? I mean, we only stuck with Fullmetal because we thought Kimblee was going to try and kill us but now he’s gone. All that Homunculus crap is over too. Well, other than the possibility of Pride coming back, anyway.” He whispered the last part. “So, what’s your plan now?”

Darius chewed on his ribs as he thought about it. “Not sure. Didn’t have a plan before, don’t have one now.”

“Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t have one.”

“What about you? Do you have a plan?”

Heinkel rested his chin on his fist. Ever since he got mixed with a lion, his whole plan had been to just do whatever he was told to do. Now that someone was finally asking him what he wanted, he didn’t really have any idea. 

“Don’t know,” he confessed. “Unlike Jerso and Zampano, I don’t have a family to return to, so I’ve got no reason to want my original body back. All my animal instincts are telling me is that if I stick with you then something good will happen.” He noticed that Darius stopped eating at that and just began staring at his companion with wide eyes and an open mouth. “H—Hey, don’t just gawk at me like that! Come on, why don’t you tell me your story?”

“Huh?” Darius practically jumped in his seat. “Story? What do you mean?”

“Well, I know Jerso and Zampano have got kids and wives.” Heinkel couldn’t help reminiscing about the time they all met. The senior staff invited several soldiers with healthy and strong bodies (and no place else to go) into some creepy laboratory. It was there that they were tested over and over again to see if they had what it took to become chimera. Enhanced super soldiers, was how those scientists framed it. “They had problems at home and ended up in that place. But what about you? I never heard you talking about someone you left.”

Darius grimaced, putting down his half-eaten rib onto the plate of half-bones. He wasn't usually the type to lose his hunger in the middle of a meal so this topic must’ve been serious. And Heinkel realized that he might’ve brought up some seriously bad memories.

Heinkel tried to backtrack. “If you don’t want to tell me, it's totally fine.”

“No,” Darius interjected. “It’s fine. Besides, my animal instincts are also telling me that if I stick with you, something good will happen.” He scratched his cheek that was already turning pink. “So if we’re sticking together, then we should trust each other, right?”

“Oh. Yeah, I guess that’s true.”

“But what I’m about to tell you… no one else knows, okay?”

Darius was whispering even though the other customers were wrapped up in their own conversations. It couldn’t have been that bad, right? Unless he was going to reveal that he was a death row inmate about to be turned into a bodiless suit of armor like Barry the Chopper then Heinkel was sure that he wouldn’t think less of his comrade. No, his friend. They spent way too much time together to just be comrades at this point.

“I won’t tell anyone else without your permission,” Heinkel promised. “So, what is it?”

It looked like Darius was mentally preparing himself for this moment. He grabbed his drink, took a quick swig of it, and then inhaled deeply for good measure. “When I was fifteen, my parents disowned me and kicked me out. I spent three years on the streets before enlisting in the military but I kept everyone at an arm’s length because I was afraid that they would reject me like my family did.”

Heinkel frowned at that. He didn’t know his own parents for very long. They died because of a flood that wrecked half his hometown. But he remembered them being the type of people who would do anything to protect him. They were the reason he survived that flood. They saved him and paid the ultimate price because of it.

“What did you do?” Heinkel asked. “Fail school?”

“If it were something like that, I wouldn’t have been dumpster diving for so long,” Darius huffed. “No, it wasn’t that.” He finished the rest of his drink and solemnly placed his glass down, the ice inside clinking around at the bottom. When did the diner become so quiet? “My parents… they found out I was dating, uh, someone they didn’t approve of.”

Heinkel raised a brow. “That’s it? No offense but your parents sound awful.”

“No, that isn’t it,” Darius growled. “The person they caught me with… was a man.”

“…Oh.”

There was a long stretch of silence between them. It was suffocating and felt like it was impenetrable. It didn’t help that Darius was refusing to make eye contact with his partner. If he would only look up then maybe this would go a lot easier.

“You must be disgusted,” Darius chuckled humorlessly. “You must be thinking about all the times when we were in the showers next to each other and how it’s different now that you know this about me.” He yelled out in frustration, the other customers turning to them as he furiously scratched his scalp. “Okay, don’t say anything. Don’t tell me what your animal instincts are telling you. I’ll just… leave.”

Darius stood up, his chair screeching along the floor. Just before he took off though, Heinkel grabbed his wrist.

“My _ point _about your parents,” said Heinkel, “still stands. They’re awful.”

Darius stood stock still and in that moment, tears started rolling down his face. “What?”

Heinkel noticed everyone staring so he lowered his voice. “Today, Mrs. Bradley came to the Command Center and was told that her son was a Homunculus. Even so, she accepted that baby and chose to raise him as her own like she had done before learning what Selim truly was. If a parent cannot accept their child for something as trivial as the gender they’re attracted to, then they had no right to be a parent in the first place.”

“Heinkel…”

“Um, excuse me, sirs,” a waitress chimed in. “Is everything alright?”

Heinkel nodded. “Yes, we just remembered we have something to do. Is it okay if we take our orders to go?”

“Oh! Of course! I’ll be right back!”

Darius felt bad that they had to leave so soon on his account but Heinkel assured him it was fine. It was a little too crowded in there anyway. They decided to reunite with Marcoh and Yoki at Dr. Knox’s place so they could be caught up to speed on everything. After that, perhaps they would stay in Central until the Elric brothers were ready to go home.

The sun had set on what felt like the longest day in Amestrian history. Street lamps were coming on and kids were being called back inside. It was strange how easily they could go about their daily activities but then again, all they knew was that there was a coup against the Fuhrer and terrorist attacks that caused a ton of damage to the city. They didn’t know what Darius and Heinkel knew.

“You can’t see the stars from here,” Darius mumbled.

“Hm?” Heinkel paused, turning back. “What do you mean?”

His companion was staring up silently. “When we were staying with Pinako Rockbell back in Resembool, we could look up at the night sky and see stars. I never really noticed that the sky was so dark in Central. It’s a shame we didn’t get to enjoy it more while we were in the East.”

“Well, we had to lie low.”

“I know.”

Heinkel sighed. Staring at his partner’s downcast expression left a weight in his chest. “We don’t have to anymore,” he said. “There’s no one out to get us anymore.” As soon as those words left his mouth, the relief that washed over him was immense. He was aware when they won that they were finally safe but it didn’t hit him until he mentioned it. “We can go anywhere we want. We can take a vacation east and stare at the stars for as long as we want. You can be whoever you want to be, Darius.”

The other man started crying again but this time, with a stupid big grin on his face. “Thank you, Heinkel.”

Heinkel nodded. “We’re finally free. _ You’re _finally free.”

They walked the rest of the way a little lighter on their feet. They didn’t need to talk to know that both their animal instincts were telling them that they were safe from danger. That they didn’t have to fight anymore. And without thinking about it, Heinkel reached out and took Darius’s hand in his. They walked back home together, their fingers intertwined between them.

Weeks passed and the military set them up with temporary housing at a hotel. Marcoh decided to try to heal Mustang’s eyes and then he’d return to the small town where he could continue being their doctor. Ling sent them a postcard and delicious snacks from Xing thanking them for their help when they were traveling together. Al also called them up when he arrived back home to tell them how grateful he was to have met them.

“We won’t have any place to live soon,” Darius muttered. “What are we going to do?”

“We’re low on cash too, we can’t exactly travel the world without money,” Heinkel added.

They both glanced over at Yoki who was still tagging along with them for some reason. Then again, he’d been traveling with Scar and Mei before meeting the chimera duo so he probably didn’t have anywhere else to go either. After all, Mei went back to Xing and Scar went up North. The middle-aged man flinched when he fell under their intimidating gazes. 

“Come to think of it,” said Darius, “you were homeless for a while too.”

Heinkel nodded. “How did someone as unskilled and frail as you survive like that?”

“Hey!” Yoki snapped. “I have skills, you beasts!” He crossed his arms and scowled at a wall. “Regardless, if you must know, I was doing a selection of odd jobs here and there in order to regain my status. One of those things being trying to become a world-class entertainer but alas, the world was not ready for all of my wondrous talents.”

“Entertainment?” Darius repeated. “That doesn’t sound too bad. We can travel around and work too.”

Yoki guffawed at that. “You guys as entertainers? What kind of place would accept two freakshows like you?”

“_Freakshows_?”

“Hold on, Darius, that’s it!” Heinkel held out an arm to keep his partner from tearing the smaller man to pieces. “A circus! We can start our own traveling circus and put on shows and recruit other people that feel like they don’t have homes!”

“That’s… not a bad idea.”

“Exactly! We should get started on recruiting people!”

“Yeah! Let’s go!”

Yoki watched this excited back and forth between them and he let out an exasperated sigh. “Do you two even know how hard it is to start your own business? It’s not as easy as you make it sound. Especially if you want it to be legitimate. You need properties, a venue, and for you guys, a loan. But you need to be able to prove to a bank that you will be able to pay it back or else they’ll never lend to you.”

The chimera pair paused before looking back down. “Then you can be our business manager.”

“Eh?”

“Yeah! You can work behind the scenes at our shows!”

“Hold on—!”

“You could even be a clown!”

“A clown?!”

“It’s settled then! We’re working together, Mr. Yoki!”

“Oh dear…” 

—X— 

Two years later, the Chimera Circus was attracting the attention of everyone in Amestris. It seemed that after the untimely demise of the Fuhrer, the country’s citizens needed something to put a smile on their faces. Darius and Heinkel provided that for many though it wasn’t without hard work. Still, their toiling was worth it whenever they looked into the crowd and recognized a friend.

The troupe became their family. People who didn’t have homes to return to, turned to them. Suddenly, it wasn’t so lonely anymore. The applause of children in the audience and the cheers of their co-workers after a long day’s work kept them going. Every night, after sweeping the peanut shells and putting away their equipment, Darius and Heinkel would return to their trailer. They’d gotten closer too, falling asleep in the same bed and always taking their bows while holding hands. 

One day, while they were in Resembool, they visited the Rockbells since one of their acrobats needed to do some maintenance on her automail arm. Unfortunately, it seemed they got there just when Ed and Al decided to go off on their own individual journeys. They heard all about it from Jerso and Zampano who were going to join Al.

While Winry worked her mechanic magic on her client, Darius and Heinkel found a grassy hill to lie on. It was a clear and breezy day. The countryside was also quiet compared to the hustle and bustle of the city which was nice. 

“Too bad the Elric brothers aren’t here,” said Darius. “I really wanted to see how they’ve grown.”

Heinkel nodded. “We can always come back here again.”

“Heh, true.”

They talked about work and how the world was changing for the better in recent days. All the dislocated Ishvalans had rebuilt their homes and were returning from the slums they were forced into. Ling Yao had to attend lessons day in and day out to make sure the clans of Xing were at peace with one another. The fight for the Fuhrer’s seat was still raging but the three contenders were at least working for the benefit of Amestris.

“Hey,” said Heinkel, sitting up. “I just realized, we’ve been so busy with the circus that we haven’t really had the time to look at the stars like we wanted.” There was no one around to see them so Heinkel took Darius’s hand in his, tenderly stroking the other man’s knuckles with his thumbs. “Let’s come back here after dinner. And stargaze as long as we want.”

“Yeah,” Darius chuckled. “That sounds nice.”

“Come on, let’s go get some food.”

After the death of his parents, Heinkel was all alone. He worked throughout his youth and didn’t have a lot of time to explore friendships and romance. Those things weren’t usually on his mind. One day, after quitting his job as a janitor, he saw a poster advertising military recruitment. He figured he had nothing else to lose and joined. 

He remembered his first impression of Darius was that he was huge and terrifying. Ironic considering he was always seen that way too. Then they were both turned into chimera and Darius punched him in the face for being “half-baked” because he didn’t have toe beans like an actual lion would. The beginning of their relationship was a weird one.

After that, they were always together. And without meaning to, Heinkel started falling for him.

Because they were always together, Heinkel felt bad about telling Darius that he felt too sick to join him stargazing on the hill after dinner. Darius fretted over him like he did when they reunited after the fight with Homunculus. He offered to stay but Heinkel told him he’d meet him later. Looking at the stars was something that Darius had been wanting to do for the last two years, after all. Heinkel didn’t intend on depriving him of that opportunity.

The sun was setting on the horizon as Darius walked to the hill alone. He kept his hands stuffed deep in his pockets because they’d feel too cold otherwise. Every few seconds, he would look back hoping that Heinkel was following him. It was hard being away from him.

When he finally got over the hill, his eyes widened at the sight before him. 

Their big top was waiting for him, covered in bright lights. With his sharp nose, he could smell candles and automail oil? He slowly walked into the tent to find the entire troupe sitting in the bleachers, each of them holding a candle. Winry and Yoki were there too, standing at the front.

“What’s all this?” he asked.

“Heinkel asked us for a favor,” Winry explained.

Yoki smiled. “As his family. As _your_ family.”

Darius caught wind of the familiar scent that he had grown to love every night. He spun around to find Heinkel kneeling down on one knee with a small box in hand. Heart racing in his chest and tears already welling up in his eyes, Darius couldn’t believe what was happening. And he’d seen a lot of unbelievable stuff.

“Darius, I love you,” said Heinkel. “For the longest time, I was alone in this world without a single person to call a friend or family. You became both. These last few years with you have been amazing. So I want you to know… that I would do anything for you. Because my instincts tell me, if I stay with you, I’ll never be unhappy.” He opened up the box, a ring glinting inside. “So Darius… will you marry me?”

“You idiot,” Darius smiled. “Of course, I will!”

Immediately, their friends and family erupted into cheers as Heinkel put the ring on Darius’s finger. They embraced each other with tearful laughs and soft kisses. Darius was even spinning his new fiancé around and around, unable to stop smiling.

“I love you,” said Darius.

“I love you too,” Heinkel chuckled.

“They do know that there’s probably no church that’s going to marry two men, right?” Yoki muttered.

Winry whacked him over the head with a wrench. “Hush, and let them be happy.”

Once the troupe cleaned up and offered their congratulations to the happy couple, they went back to the place the trailers were parked to call it a night. Winry gave them a bill for the automail maintenance and a bouquet of flowers. And Yoki reminded them not to have too much fun because they had to leave early in the morning for their next show. 

Before long, it was just the two of them. They sat in the grass and stared at the dark blue expanse above them, dotted with countless twinkling stars and a bright crescent-shaped moon. It was like the heavens were smiling down on them.

“So what are your instincts telling you now?” Heinkel asked.

“Hm.” Darius took Heinkel’s hand in his. “That we should honeymoon in Xing.”

“Not a bad idea! We do know the future Emperor, after all!” 

They laughed at that and spent the rest of the night watching the stars. They pointed out constellations they recognized and made up ones that never existed. They wondered about their uncertain future and smiled at the prospect of taking it on together. They listened to the crickets chirping around them and fell in love again when they turned to look at each other.

“Thank you for today,” said Darius. “For everyday. You know, before I met you, there were days that I’d thought life wasn’t worth living. I was all alone and rejected from the very people who were supposed to love me unconditionally. Then you came along and. So thank you, for loving me everyday.”

“Don’t thank me for that,” Heinkel replied. “Loving you is the easiest thing in the world for me to do.”

“Yeah… me too.”

They kissed one another, Darius’s new ring twinkling in the night like a star.

**Author's Note:**

> I have a [Tumblr](https://zerounitrgb.tumblr.com/) where I advertise my writing and reblog art/manga caps/gifs of my fandoms. I also have a twitter @RgbUnit but for my rants and retweets.
> 
> Also, I wrote this after I recently watched Brotherhood for the first time ever. No one call me slow, I read the manga twice before this and the only reason I didn't watch was because I didn't think it would be worth it. Anyway, I'm just really soft for these furry men in their thirties and thank you for being soft with me.


End file.
